A Cup of Green Tea
by bathroom.concert
Summary: Desperate times call for desperate measures. Saving her 'future', Kuchiki Rukia agrees to be the girlfriend of Kurosaki Ichigo, her arch-enemy in an oh-so-cliché scheme of getting his real sweetheart, Senna. Later she realizes she only risks her own heart
1. Pilot

**Summary: **Desperate times call for desperate measures. To protect what she has planned for her future, Kuchiki Rukia agrees to be the girlfriend of Kurosaki Ichigo, her arch-enemy in an oh-so-cliché scheme of getting his real sweetheart, Senna. But as the time goes, Rukia realizes she has started a dangerous game that risks something precious: her heart.

**Disclaimer**

I own Bleach. That's why recently in the manga, we can see an orange-haired bouncing toddler with big violet eyes running around. What? There's no such thing? That's not possible! *rushes to check the manga*

**Pilot**

Rukia stared emotionlessly, despite herself, at the creature stood before her. Said creature's eyes stared back at her unabashedly, as if what he had told her earlier was as common as a weather forecast.

Rukia shook her head.

"Is that a 'no'?" the boy asked, rather unnecessarily.

Rukia glared. "What do you think, retard?"

The Citrus Head narrowed his eyes. His amber irises turned into darker shade. "Tell you what? You are in no position to decline."

"I have a right to decline your idiotic proposal."

"Don't you worry about your flawless marks, Rukia? And don't even get me started on your reputation."

"And now you are threatening me. That is low."

"I'm merely telling you the consequences."

"Knowing you, I will not let myself believe those 'consequences'".

"Are you challenging me, Ru-ki-a?" he smirked.

"You would not dare." Rukia hissed.

The boy seemed still, unaffected by the deadly tone the shorter human had just voiced. "You think so? Because I'd gladly show you the demonstrations. Face it. Your life is at stake, so it clearly leaves nothing to debate."

Rukia stood tall, refused to show her weakness—or inside turmoil to the bastard who was currently twirling his pencil in between his long fingers nonchalantly.

"You have got this far just for some insignificant matter like this? God, do you not realize that you are being pathetic right now?"

"What I did and what I'm going to do is none of your concern!" Ichigo snapped.

Rukia tilted her head slightly. "Of course it is not. And that explains my rejection."

Rukia turned aroud and started take a step before Ichigo said,

"You forgot I have the evidence."

Rukia stopped midway. She then turned around. She gritted her teeth and marched toward the blasted boy.

"You!" she stabbed his broad chest with her slender index finger ("Kami, his chest. Must it be this broad?"), "why are you doing this to me, Kurosaki? I hate you, and you hate me! And I, strictly speaking, do not care about your love predicament. Why me?"

"Do you think I want it to be this way either? If I had options, it obviously wouldn't be you. I mean, why you? You are short, uptight, annoying, act all high-and-mighty… But newsflash, Princess, I have none of it at this moment."

A vein in Rukia' s temple popped out. What did the Strawberry say? Short? Uptight? Annoying? Well, she wasn't as tall as girls her age alright. And uptight? She only always made sure everything goes as it planned. There's a big difference! And annoying? Of course he was one to talk…

"Just pick one of your crazy fan girls; you are going to be fine. But they will not buy the schemes, anyway."

"They will."

"They will not. Why would they? You and I had never been in good terms."

Kurosaki chuckled. "Don't you see the paradox? They say the line between love and hate is just as thick as onion's skin."

Rukia quieted. She stared at the camcorder in Kurosaki's big hand unconsciously. Unfortunately, Kurosaki noticed it. He chuckled.

"Come on. You realize it yourself that you have no choice."

Rukia inhaled deeply, closed her eyes and start to count one to ten to calm herself. In ten seconds her large eyes closed, everything she knew flashed in emptiness. Yale Law School, her brother …

Kurosaki Ichigo.

The first time Rukia saw him two years ago, she just knew that the dandelion head would be the bane of her existence. And time only proved it to be right. There were no days of her two years of High School where they didn't bicker, to let the other live peacefully. No, they just had to get into each other's throats.

_Flashback_

_It was a pleasant Sunday morning. _Perfect day, perfect mood_, Rukia mused as she felt the cool breeze on her face. She was enjoying the scene. The elderly went for a morning walk, Mothers held shopping bags with the vegetables jutting out, Fathers carried their children on their shoulder; teenagers were riding bikes just like her. Simple scene, really but to Rukia, it was splendid. This is what a live should be. Rukia looked down on her bike_

_My bike, Rukia grinned widely_

'Nii-sama allowed me to do this? Unbelievable. This is awesome'.

_Well, knowing her brother, having her own bicycle was something that worth a headline on newspaper. Everybody knew Kuchiki Byakuya: the young tycoon, the most eligible bachelor in Japan, the head of the notorious noble family, was a protective man to his only family member; his baby sister, Kuchiki Rukia._

_She has always traveled everywhere with a car that her brother provided specially for her and only her. And not only a car, there was a chauffeur to drive her wherever and whenever she would like to go._

_At first, a thought of The Kuchiki Rukia riding a bike was scandalous to Byakuya. Bikes were for commoners and frankly, she wasn't one of them. But she begged, and begged, and begged until Byakuya had to ask an aspirin from the maid to cure the headache that his sister caused._

"_I want to be normal, Nii-sama"._

_Normal. Kuchikis would never be what people deemed as 'normal', her brother said. But those big, beautiful violet eyes made him say 'yes', anyway. _

"_I want to be normal, Nii-sama. I have to if I am going to go to public school"._

_Yes, that's right. A Kuchiki would be attending a public school. There was nothing wrong with Seireitei Academy, that Byakuya was sure. But then Byakuya remembered their late Grandfather a little over ten years ago and that was when Byakuya relented._

_First, gave his permission to his sister to attend a public school. Second, allowed the said sister to have a bike._

_Rukia knew it must have been hard for her brother. She also knew her brother did all the things he has done only for her sake. But Rukia wanted to know what it would be like to act like a normal teenager. To go to school by bike. not by a 7 series BMW. To attend a public school with a simple white shirt and platted skirt or sailor suit as the uniform, not that royal blue-colored blazer. _

_Rukia was on her own little world that she didn't notice a boy were crossing the street, his hands holding two paper bags. And when Rukia did see him, it was too late._

"_Back off!" Rukia could only yell because her brain was in havoc couldn't tell where the brake was or which way to go to avoid the boy._

_When the bicycle collided with the boy, Rukia was sent flying and the boy fell face first._

_Being a true Kuchiki that she was, Rukia instantly apologized, offered some money before realizing she didn't bring anything. Not to mention she still had to bring the boy to the hospital because from what she saw, there was blood running down from his nose and several bruises that scattered all over his admittedly good-looking face._

"_You fool! If you can't ride a bike, then don't!" the boy barked._

_Rukia was seethed but it was her fault anyway. She insisted to bring the boy to the closest clinic and only after that she found out that the owner was none other than the boy's father._

_A "My idiot of a son is bringing home a wife!" shout made Rukia jaw-dropped. Not only this oji-san seemed a bit demented, he was also way more different compared to his apparently grumpy son. Kurosaki-san didn't seem like take a notice to his son's battered form._

_What shocked Rukia more, the boy's family invited her to lunch. Foods were provided by the boy's sister which made the boy, that Rukia now knew his name was Kurosaki Ichigo, goes on rants about how she almost killed him and how the hell did she deserve to be invited to his family lunch?_

_After borrowed the Kurosaki Family's phone to make a call to her 'friend' to bring her money, and only to be rejected by Kurosaki-san ("No, Rukia-chan! Thank you for what you've done to my insufferable son!"), and informed that her bike has taken care of, Rukia went home._

_But The Kurosakis (minus annoying carrot-top) was so… warm, and nice. At first, Rukia just paid a visit for obligatory purpose but later, she realized that she was kinda fond of the family until on the first day of attending public school, she found out that she was put on the same class with none other than Kurosaki Ichigo._

As she opened her eyes, she cursed inwardly at her rare clumsiness. But Kurosaki was right. She's left with no choices.

Rukia stared into those molten amber eyes, didn't utter even one word. But Kurosaki knew instantly what her gaze means.

"So, Kuchiki Rukia. Be my girlfriend?"

**A/N: *is fidgeting* so, how was it? I know, I know. You guys probably are having massive headaches now because of my very perfect grammar. I'm deeply sorry. English is not my first language, so it's all to be expected. Kinda.**

**Should I continue this? If you think I should, I need a beta-reader to save you all from the pain of reading a story with stupid grammar.**

***chu**


	2. Terms of Service Agreement

**Disclaimer **

I don't own Bleach. However, I own Kubo Tite. Not.

**2. Terms of Service Agreement**

"_So, Kuchiki Rukia. Be my girlfriend?"_

Rukia bit her lower lip as she looked into Kurosaki's eyes deeply. After took a deep breath, she asked. "Why me?"

Ichigo ran his long fingers through his unruly hair, his face looked exasperated. "This again? You happened to be in the wrong time and place, though for me, it was the right time and the right place. And I must admit that how we had treated each other will give this whole thing its dramatic streak."

Rukia sighed heavily and averted her gaze away from Ichigo. "I… do not have many options, do I?"

Ichigo smiled broadly, satisfied with Rukia's not-exactly-direct answer.

"Very good." he said.

"And now after we are officially boyfriend and girlfriend," Rukia felt her tongue hurt at this, "what do you plan to do next?"

Rukia hated to ask 'what's the next plan' to others. She was accustomed to become the party to take decisions, not vice versa. Waiting for someone's instructions and then run them was completely a foreign concept to her.

Jii-sama once said to never let others to decide things for something that concerns her. A Kuchiki should only listen to himself or another Kuchiki alone, not anyone else. Never anyone else.

'_And now because of this stupid, immature boy I was forced to disobey Jii-sama,_ Rukia regretted.

"Now we need to make the Terms of Service Agreement." Ichigo announced.

Rukia snapped her head. "What?"

"The Do's and Don'ts of this ... thing" Ichigo seemed difficult, or rather he did not want to mention their status which was now no longer friends, so to speak. "You understand, right? I'm sure a thing like this isn't foreign to you Kuchikis."

It was one thing that made Rukia hate Ichigo. Since he knew that she was a Kuchiki, Ichigo increasingly disliked her. Rukia had this idea that Ichigo considered her as a snotty, spoiled, and a pushy rich girl. Ichigo only saw the 'what' of her, not 'who'. Moreover, who did he think he was, judging Rukia like that? How many Kuchiki he knew so he could stereotype Rukia?

"Sure. There are lots of things that are not foreign to us, unlike some people." Rukia sneered.

"Not everybody was born with silver spoon shoved into their mouth!"

Rukia nodded wisely. "I agree. Otherwise, the world would not have been this interesting, don't you think?" to aggravate Ichigo even more, now Rukia added a sickeningly sweet smile into her expression.

Looked like it worked as she planned.

"Bitch. Who do you—"

"Are we going to work on your idea or not?" Rukia cut in harshly.

Ichigo gritted his teeth. This girl was probably the most difficult, impossible girl he ever knew of. What an unfortunate event… Really, were all rich people like this?

"Fine. Meet me on the roof after school."

"Who do you think you are, telling me what to do like that? We do this my way. Meet me at the park near Karakura General, 5 pm sharp."

"What the hell! What're you doing in the hospital at Friday, anyway?"

"I do not think I have to discuss it with you. Good day, Kurosaki."

With that, Rukia turned her body to walk back to the class, leaving Ichigo with his mouth agape. Even with her current bargaining position which was nowhere near gainful, that annoying girl could still manage other people to do as she wished.

* * *

><p>The hallway towards VIP room was quiet. Rukia walked gracefully as she scanned her surrounding, her right hand held a bouquet of white Lily and her left hand held a big bag full of candies to her chest.<p>

She disliked hospital for she thought the place was an epitome of uncertainty. There were always hopes, yes, but not everybody was lucky enough to have that. In this place, hope was a luxury.

Rukia sighed. Her father and her grandfather were among those who were unlucky.

"Rukia-san?"

Rukia stopped in her tracks. "Unohana-san!" she bowed after her eyes caught the sight of a woman with long, black hair braided in front of chest smiled softly at her.

"The usual?"

Rukia nodded. "The usual. How is he?"

"Don't worry. He's going to be alright."

Rukia beamed. "I am glad to hear that. Can I see him now?"

"Why, of course. He has been waiting for you, you know?"

With a last bow to the soft-looking doctor, Rukia proceeded to walk toward the room that unfortunately was familiar to her, due to the fact that she went there quite often, visiting the same person.

In front of room number 131, she knocked the door.

"Come in." there was a voice muffled from inside the room followed by several light coughs.

Rukia opened the door.

There, on the sickbed, was a man in his mid forties with long, white hair tied loosely behind his back smiled at her. He was good-looking, handsome even, and had this warm, fatherly aura surrounded him.

"Ah, Kuchiki." he acknowledged her; the smile never left his face. "Come in, child. I'm sorry you missed our piano lessons this week."

"Worry not, Ukitake-san. I practiced with your nephew instead."

Ukitake Jūshirō chuckled knowingly. "That must've been hard."

Rukia smiled. "He was impatient, yes, but nice, nonetheless. How are you, Ukitake-san?"

"I'm fine. This happens to me in a regular basis. Surely you should've known by now." Ukitake laughed. "Kami, I'm getting old. "

"No, you just did not take care of yourself well enough."

Ukitake smiled at this. Behind her cold demeanor and high-and-mighty attitude, the young girl in front of him was actually a loving, warm kind of person. Just like the rest of her family.

"How's your brother?"

And so, for the next two hours, they chatted and exchange stories. Rukia had always felt this odd feeling when she was around him. A strong fondness. A feeling that said she wouldn't mind being around him as long as possible and in fact, yes, she didn't. Maybe that was because the fact that she had known him since she was still babbling incoherently with drools oozed from her mouth, incapable of forming words and convey what she wanted to say.

Rukia loved talking to him and listening to his stories, so fixated she didn't realize there was a figure stood behind the door watching her. After a while, the figure was gone.

* * *

><p>"Do I really have to meet that stupid human?" Rukia muttered under her breath. She was leisurely riding her cute bicycle, heading to the park where she and Kurosaki had agreed to meet at. She had made a call to her home earlier, telling her brother that maybe she would be late for dinner.<p>

Of course her brother didn't take it just like that. He suspected she had some date waiting for her.

Really. A date? With Kurosaki Ichigo? Surely God wouldn't be so cruel to her, now would He?

When she reached the park, she parked her purple bicycle under a tree and not far from where she stood, she could see Kurosaki with his God cursed orange hair sitting with his two long legs stretched out. He seemed so peaceful although the scowl was still there.

Rukia walked toward him. "Did I make you wait? "

Without saying anything, Kurosaki stood up. "You see that bench? Let's go there."

Rukia inspected him with disdain. How could he not be bothered by dirt and grass practically covered his pants? Why was it that all she could see from him was negative things? Oh please, Kuchiki. Of course that was because all the boy had were all except goodness.

As soon as Kurosaki put his rear on the bench, he produced a paper that seemed out of nowhere.

"Okay. You read this."

Rukia snapped the paper from his hand and fumed. "You made this all by yourself?"

"Yes." Kurosaki looked smug. Stupid boy.

"It was not praise, dummy. Why did you do this without my consent? Why did you decide without my approval? That is not the way we do this kind of thing!"

"Oi oi, relax."

Rukia read what was written on the paper.

**Do's**

**Call each other with given names.**

**Act like a couple in school, including some holding hands.**

**Go to school and go home together.**

**Don'ts**

**Kissing.**

**Act like a couple outside the school.**

Rukia gripped the paper in her hand so hard it was crumpled. A thick vein popped in her temple.

"So this is your definition of Terms of Service Agreement, huh, Kurosaki?" Rukia asked with low, menacing tone.

"It's now Ichi—"

"If I knew this 'Terms of Service Agreement' would be this simple, I would have saved my precious time to do more important things! You see, idiot, even without you telling me what to do and what not to do, I will do exactly these things! Do not insult Kuchiki intelligence!" Rukia's face now red from anger.

"Hey—"

"Do not 'hey' me! I thought you knew what you were doing but I now suspect I was wrong—"

"What does that mea—"

"Shut up!" Rukia practically barked. "Shut up and let me do the talking. Up to this point, I can safely assume that you know what you want but you do not understand of what to do. Yes, I will call you Ichigo and you can call me Rukia. Yes, we will be holding hands and Holy Kami, yes, I will not kiss you. Who would want that anyway? But do you know how to 'maintain' this whole act? Maybe when does this 'agreement' end? No? To whom this fake-couple thingy applied? To everybody we know and know us or limited only to those in school—meaning the families not included?"

"That actually make sense—"

"I am not finished! Speak when I ask you to. What to do and what not to do in front of that Sonny girl—do you know? Do you not find it ironic and stupid for us to be a couple when you in all honesty are intended to woo another girl? Do you know how to work on it without jeopardize the chances you might have? No? I thought so. Now, speak."

Ichigo scratched the back of his head but scowled. He found himself couldn't meet the heiress' intense gaze. "I… Honestly, I didn't think way that far."

Rukia instantly gave him a 'wtf' look. A good thing he was merely a high school student. If he was a businessman like Nii-sama, he would've been the most favourite business partner of all time because he was so easy to deceive. He didn't acknowledge the ground he was battling.

"Do not jump head first into anything, Kurosaki. Learn your field first."

Kurosaki's broad shoulders slumped a bit. He didn't look sad; even his scowl was still intact. But Rukia could definitely notice the spirit within him had dimmed ever-so-slightly. At seeing this, Rukia sighed inaudibly.

"Okay. I have some ideas. Do you want to listen or do you want to find the way yourself?" the aristocratic girl asked softly as she positioned herself right beside him.

Ichigo lifted his gaze to meet hers. He didn't answer right her right away but somehow Rukia knew what he meant to say.

* * *

><p>Garden at the Kuchiki Residence wasn't your average, of course. Its width was just as narrow as a soccer field with a Koi pond, a freaking river God only knew which spring it came from, and sakura trees. The building wasn't called 'Manor' for nothing.<p>

In the middle of that picturesque garden, Rukia was sitting idyllically on a wooden chair, sipping her daily dose of green tea in a fine, classic-look teacup. She was contentedly basking on an almost-sunset glow. In front of her, also sitting was a man with flaming red hair tied into ponytail.

"Can you please stop staring, Renji?" Rukia put her cup, folded her arms and raised an eyebrow, glared at her best friend.

Renji blinked but didn't speak a word.

"I see. Not only stupid, now you are also mute."

"I'm trying to figure out this madness, here. Gimme a break." Renji grunted. "You and Ichigo. Man, The Mayans got it all messed up. The Apocalypse is coming faster than we thought."

"Very creative remark of yours", Rukia pinched the bridge of her nose. Her face was suddenly somber. "I have to do this, Renji. He threatened me and I can not let that happen. That damned camcorder of his has recorded my… deed… and that was like a checkmate to me."

Renji dumbfounded. Never in his entire life had he seen his best friend did something that was very out of character not to mention considered as a criminal act. "So basically this was because you had tried to—Kami, I can't believe this—climb Miss Ochi's room so you can enter through the vent and then swap the essay?"

"A little bit louder, Renji. There is someone in Uganda that could not hear you."

"Sorry."

"That was my fault that I submitted the wrong book, alright. But you know the essay weighed 70% and will be accumulated after our final exam. Did you think I could pass something like that?"

"Ah… I know, I know. So from now on, you two will be a couple? The whole holding hands and other lovey-dovey thingy?"

"We will _act_ like a couple, Renji." Rukia corrected her best friend, "we won't say anything about the status. If we announce that we're dating, well, that will leave Kurosaki with no room to move; to acquire his actual goal. We will let other people think what they want; conclude what they want so that we can keep any chance that Kurosaki might have with her. The point is to make this what's-her-name jealous".

"And when she does feel jealous, Ichigo hopes she will realize that all this time she actually loves him?" Renji finished.

"Yes." If possible, Rukia looked more and more gloomy.

Seeing her best friend's expression, Renji patted her head lightly. "Hey, at least we know Ichigo will stay true to his promise."

"'We'? No, I do not. How do I know he will not betray me and send the recording to the Principal and, heaven forbid, Nii-sama? Maybe he now has thousands copies of that."

"No, he won't. I assure you he won't. I know him."

That was true. Renji and Ichigo were best friends with love to hate tendencies. They were both in Karate Club. Perhaps, outrageous hair colours and similar attitude was what made them sorta brother-in-arm. Renji knew about Rukia and Ichigo's 'history' together. He knew they both were born to strangle each other's neck and he knew how much they despise each other.

"You know what I'm thinking right now, Rukia?" Renji asked.

Rukia smirked. "Arisawa?"

"No!" Renji instantly yelled, making Rukia closed her eyes with comical expression. "I'm thinking about how I imagine you and Ichigo would make a great couple. Chaotic, but great."

Rukia snorted with a way that would've made her brother chastise her for being so 'unladylike'. "That is good, I suppose. People will be convinced."

"No. What I meant was real couple." Renji corrected her petite best friend.

And that stupid suggestion resulted in Renji's swollen jaw.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **

**My thesis is killing me!**

**Skittles was my muse. Thank Wrigley.**

**The grammar! I know, I know, still sucks as ever and I'm deeply sorry for that And thank you very, very much for all the criticisms, reviews, favorites, and alerts. They are so uplifting, considering my fic isn't that great. **

**Criticisms? Questions? Suggestions? Throw 'em all at me! I'd like to read some feedbacks from you **


	3. The Dreaded Day

**Disclaimer:**

I own almost everything except a boyfriend and Bleach.

**3. The Dreaded Day**

Rukia looked at her reflection in the mirror as she arranged her bowtie. Her brow creased slightly when she remembered what day today was. Rukia was actually never one to hate Monday but this time, she begged to differ.

Oh, that was right. Today was the first day she started to crave her glorious path of her acting career: to build public opinion that she and Kurosaki Ichigo was dating. But then Rukia stopped her activity and left her bowtie slightly askew.

She had been acting for all her life.

She didn't use her sweet voice when she talks to her family, Ukitake-san's family, Renji, and her friends back in Seireitei Academy. All those people recognized was her soprano voice and no, she didn't act all cheery and happy and colourful around them.

"_Different crowd requires a different approach." _

After all this time, she still fought for acceptance. Acceptance of who she was, not what she was.

"Rukia-sama, Byakuya-sama is ready downstairs."

Rukia spun her body so she now faced the Kuchiki maid. "I will be there in seconds."

The maid bowed before she stepped out of Rukia's bedroom. Once again Rukia did a once over on herself; crisp white shirt, mini skirt (which Nii-sama had dubbed as 'disturbingly immodest for such a young lady'), and perfect hair. She grabbed her bag on her grand bed then went downstairs.

No matter how busy he was, Nii-sama had always made sure he had his breakfast and dinner in Kuchiki Manor with his little sister. Probably the conversations that occurred on the dining table wouldn't be as fun or as interesting as to when Rukia had had with say, her Grandfather, but at least her brother had tried. And Rukia loved him for that.

Scratch that. Rukia loved her brother no matter what.

"Ohayou, Nii-sama." Rukia bowed. One maid pulled a chair so she could sit in front of Byakuya.

"Ohayou." he replied indifferently.

And for the next ten minutes, there were nothing but clanking sounds echoed through the Kuchiki dining room. Three maids stood around dutifully but not close enough to cause uncomfortable feeling to the detached Kuchiki members.

"How is school?" Rukia heard her brother asked her with his familiar yet distant low, baritone voice.

"School is…" _imperiled_ "… good, Nii-sama."

"Do you still desire to become a lawyer?"

Rukia swallowed her food first then nodded. "Yes. "

"Yale, correct?"

"Yes, Nii-sama. But I do not limit myself to just one possible option."

"Hn." Byakuya nodded. Then, "I saw your bicycle yesterday in the park."

If Rukia was anyone but a noble, she would have choked and died by the waffle she was currently chewing right away. "Yes, I visited Ukitake-san that day."

She didn't lie. She could never lie to him but well, she didn't have to tell him all the details… right? _Oh, please don't ask anymore_, Rukia begged silently. She felt guilty just by hiding something from him like that.

Her brother didn't say anything. But Rukia knew that he _knew_ something was off. Kuchiki Byakuya wasn't stupid. Oh no sire, he was the farthest thing from that. He must have noticed that Rukia didn't tell him all the details. So she visited her piano teacher (and a person very dear to her—and Kuchiki Family) in the hospital. So what? Didn't explain why her bicycle was in the park, though.

Rukia felt so relieved when suddenly Shirogane Ginjiro, her brother's chauffeur walked into the dining room.

She made a mental note to give Shirogane-san an aftershave as a gift later.

"Byakuya-sama…" he bowed.

"Is there a reason why you disrupt my breakfast with Rukia, Ginjiro?" Byakuya asked coldly.

"I'm deeply sorry for causing you discomfort but there's someone waiting for Rukia-sama."

Rukia lifted one eyebrow.

"And who would that person be?" Byakuya interrogated as Rukia stared at Shirogane dumbly.

"Kurosaki Ichigo, Kuchiki-sama."

Rukia 'eek-ed'. She really couldn't help it. What does that ruffian want this time?

Byakuya averted his attention to his sister; his face neutral. "I did not know you made a friend to a girl named Kurosaki Ichigo."

There was a low sound resembled a muffled chuckle reverberated from Shirogane's throat.

Rukia glared at him. _No aftershave, then._

"Excuse me, Byakuya-sama. But this Kurosaki Ichigo… is a boy."

"A boy." it was more like a statement than a question. Rukia could feel his gaze hardened a bit at this new information. "Ginjiro, bring him in."

Rukia's infamous big eyes widened.

"Yes, Byakuya-sama."

_Why, why, why. I never hated you before, Monday. But why do you hate me this much?_

… _Or maybe it was just Kurosaki Ichigo being an ass._

Then after the longest three minutes in her life, she saw it. The blasted orange hair that blinded everyone in the room and a scowl annoyingly etched to what Rukia could only deduce as equally annoying face.

She wondered why she was still alive.

"Yo, Rukia."

This had got to be a moment when the ground opened and swallowed her.

Byakuya eyed him with utter distaste.

"Oh, hi. You must be her brother."

_Please, not this…_

Byakuya's eyes narrowed. "Yes. And may I know who you are, kozo?"

"Oi, who're you calling 'kozo'—"

"I am full. Thank you. I liked the food, Nii-sama but I am afraid I have to go. I do not want to be late. Ah-hahahah!" Rukia suddenly stood and laughed awkwardly. She just had to do something before the worst happen.

"Today Ginjiro will take you to school, Rukia." Byakuya decided. His eyes, however, wasn't looking at her but to Ichigo who gladly returned his glare.

"No, she will come with me. Oi, Rukia. I told you before, from now on, we go to school together and go home together."

Before Rukia could prevent, Ichigo and her brother had already involved in an intense glaring contest. Not even thinking twice, Rukia pulled Ichigo's arm and dragged him out of the room; out of the Manor.

"I am sorry, Nii-sama. See you later. Have a nice day!" she shouted over her shoulder to her brother.

And then the two disappeared from Kuchiki Byakuya's sight.

* * *

><p>"Hey, what's wrong with you, Rukia?"<p>

Rukia didn't answer. She kept on walking three steps ahead of Ichigo. How dare he! How dare he without so much of a notification whatsoever pick her up at Kuchiki Residence? And talked to her brother like that?

"Rukia!" Ichigo hastened his pace.

"What were you thinking, Kurosaki, coming into my house like that without telling me first?"

"It's Ichigo."

Rukia huffed. She couldn't figure this boy up. "You should have told me first, Ichigo." She stopped her footsteps, all the while tried to ignore the thought of how she didn't exactly expect calling him by his given name to be this easy. "I was not prepared."

Ichigo scratched the back of his neck. "Ah, I'm sorry for that. I myself was quite taken aback by your brother's reaction."

She frowned before she resumed her steps, but this time in normal pace. "He does not usually act like that. Yes, he is not the warmest person in the world and beyond but he always acts polite, albeit cold, towards everybody."

"Ah, yeah… that." Ichigo followed her motion. "I am a brother of two younger sisters, remember? So I kinda understand why he did what he did."

Rukia looked up to his face but Ichigo seemed like avoid her eyes. She chuckled.

"Dork. Come on, we are going to be late."

* * *

><p>Now, due to her status as a Kuchiki, Rukia was used to be the center of attention. She wouldn't be surprised if say, a bunch of paparazzi suddenly popped up in front of her when she was on her way to an Ice Cream parlor, or journalists made a call to her, saying they wanted to interview her. She didn't even blink when one day, a man in his early twenties practically jumped in her direction, sprouting some nonsense like he was her fan and that he wanted to marry her. Also in all charity events her brother had brought her to, Rukia had been always graceful and composed. She knew how to presenting herself to a crowd.<p>

But this time, _in this place_, literally all eyes on her was not something she expected.

"Ohayou, minna-san!" Rukia flashed her sweet, sugary smile to a bunch of people staring at her and Ichigo. Trace of her original deep and low voice was nowhere to be heard. "Ara… what is with the look? Is there something in my face? Or Kurosaki-kun's?"

Then she felt Ichigo tugged on her hand, dragging her to their classroom.

"What are you doing?" she hissed. Ichigo turned his head only to glare at her.

"What are _you_ doing!"

"I was doing my job, Ichigo. Had I hit your head when we were there earlier, they would have not thought of us as a couple now, would they?"

"You were showing me off—"

"Wha—"

"… And called me with 'Kurosaki-kun'."

Rukia looked at him with weird gaze. "Excusez-moi! Can you tell me what is it that you want from me, exactly?"

They were reaching the door when suddenly Ichigo brought his steps to a halt.

"We—"

"Oh my Gosh I-chiii-gooo! You and the beautiful Rukia-chan… How could you do this to meeee?"

Rukia raised her head unsurely only to saw Asano Keigo flew towards Ichigo with tears on his face. Ichigo nonchalantly punched him. Then after he took a deep breath,

"Any other comment from you?" he asked gruffly to everyone present, earlier argumentation forgotten.

Silence. Then…

"Che. What do you think you are, Ichigo? A friggin' celebrity?"

Rukia looked at Arisawa Tatsuki in gratitude. Said girl was sitting on her desk with legs dangling and her face showed no trace of malice. One corner of her mouth was lifted subtly.

"Ohayou, Kuchiki-san… Kurosaki-kun…" Inoue waved her hand merrily. Rukia smiled while Ichigo only grunted.

After that, it was as if the spell was broken. Everybody continued what they were doing before Rukia and Ichigo entered the classroom. Rukia walked towards her desk as her eyes roamed the room. Renji was nowhere to be seen. Ever the last minuter…

* * *

><p>"Hey, you okay?"<p>

Rukia turned to see Ichigo who was seated right beside her desk. She nodded.

"Aa. Do not worry."

Ichigo scoffed. "Che. I'm not."

* * *

><p><strong>You okay, Rukia?<strong>

Two seats from her desk, Renji was looking at her with a pencil stuck out of his mouth. Rukia immediately wrote her reply.

_Why would I not be?_

She folded the paper and threw it back at her best friend.

**I heard people talkin' about you this entire morning**

_People talk about me all the time._

**True.**

_And how would you know? You were late, dummy. Where were you?_

**Nowhere. Everywhere.**

_Witty as always, I see…_

Renji was in the middle of writing his reply to Rukia when suddenly Arisawa smacked his head.

"Ow! What the hell, you crazy woman!"

"I called your name like, gazillion times idiot! Here! Tell me… how to solve this problem…"

"You mean you don't understand what Ochi-sensei had told us?" Renji deadpanned.

"You're saying I'm stupid?"

"So you feel like you are?"

"Why you red haired baboon—"

"What a classic! Hadn't heard that one in a while."

Rukia laughed quietly as she saw those two bickering and throwing insults at each other. Renji, despite his appearance, had always been a nerd at heart. He wasn't your usual genius, but he was pretty smart. Back in their Seireitei Academy days, Renji was quite a competitor for Rukia; a noteworthy one at that. He was a hard worker.

"Hei, Rukia."

Rukia averted her attention to a boy sat beside her. "Hm?"

"Did you tell Renji?"

"Yes. I trust him, after all. What of it?"

Ichigo shrugged his shoulder. "Nothing. It's just that that means we don't need to pull an act in front of him."

Rukia frowned. He really was all out and dedicated to this scheme, wasn't he?

She clicked her tongue, irritated. Kurosaki Ichigo was annoying. How desperate he could be was really beyond her. There were girls out there that Rukia was sure would more than willingly throw themselves at him, not that she would tell him this. Ever.

Besides, who was this girl? Rukia didn't recall knowing any girl named Senna. Was she even studying here, in Karakura Public High? What was she like? Was she beautiful (even more beautiful than Matsumoto Rangiku, her senior at Seireitei Academy)? What was so special about her? Did she… reject him?

Rukia wanted to laugh. Kurosaki Ichigo, rejected? That wouldn't do any good in his reputation, would it?

"Hey, Ichigo."

Ichigo spared her a glance.

"Does this Sonny girl know about your feelings?"

Ichigo blanched. "And that's your business, how? And it's Senna, you spoiled brat!"

Rukia poke his thigh with her pencil. He yelped. "She can be Sunny or Slimy for all I care."

The truth was, Rukia remembered her name. Little details never escaped her, afterall. But because this girl (well, partly), Rukia had to endure being Ichigo's 'girlfriend' and that was nowhere near fun or a respectable achievement.

"She doesn't."

"What?"

"She doesn't."

"And how could you be that stupid? Why did you not tell her?" Rukia was getting annoyed by seconds. So this was actually rooted from his cowardliness? She really wanted to stab his eyes with her pencil right now.

"Listen. It's Senna! And don't you know her?"

Rukia deadpanned. "Who is she, a Prime Minister? The Emperor's sole heiress?"

Ichigo stared at her confusedly.

"Exactly. She is nobody. And I do not have any obligations to know anyone that is nobody."

Ichigo looked like he wanted to strangle her to death but he settled with gritting his teeth. "She is popular among boys and I'd be a fool to be able to be convinced that I will be the only one who will have the prestige to be her boyfriend."

Prestige?

Rukia resisted the urge to scoff.

* * *

><p>Rukia thought that today actually went pretty well. Ichigo had somehow made his usual group invited her to have lunch with them on rooftop. Before this whole troublesome pretence Rukia had always been eating alone. Sometimes in classroom, sometimes on the tree.<p>

And now that she had experienced having lunch with a bunch of people, she had to admit that it wasn't unpleasant.

All in all, today was tolerable…

Rukia and Ichigo was on their way to their classroom when it happened. Sado, Inoue, Arisawa, Ishida, Asano, Mizuiro, and Renji was off already, leaving them two on their own devices or as Kojima put it eloquently, 'giving more time to the new lovebirds'.

As if.

"Oi, Rukia."

Rukia glanced at him only to find that he was staring straight ahead with his hands shoved into his pocket pants.

"Hm?"

"Is that right that you'd been taught French at your previous school?"

"Yes, that is right. Is there anything I can help you with?"

Rukia noticed that Ichigo was trying hard to look like he didn't care whatever responds Rukia would give him.

"My sister, Yuzu, she suddenly decided that she wanted to learn French."

"Okay…" Rukia gave him a sign to continue.

"And I thought if my family could, you know…"

"Okay." Rukia cut him in. "I will teach her. I am pretty good at speaking French."

Rukia didn't need to hear the whole explanation. She knew what he wanted to say and she knew what he also didn't actually want to say to her. After all she realized that finance problems weren't things that people would want to talk about to strangers. His father was just a doctor in a small clinic and the family sure had more important issues and needs to think about.

"W-what?"

"Well, you heard me. And no need to thank you. That is how generous I am."

"Che." he scoffed loudly but couldn't hide the small smile that slowly formed in his face which Rukia immediately returned with her own.

"Hey, Rukia. You might want to clean up your skirt. You don't exactly look like a rich girl that way."

Rukia bowed her head to see crumbs scattered all over her skirt. She started to brush them off when she felt Ichigo stiffen beside her.

Rukia looked up to see what was happening, and there she was.

A girl with strange hair colour (was it… purple?) and eye colour that wasn't any less stranger (yellow?) was looking at them with unreadable expression. Her stance was weird, like she couldn't decide whether to stay or to leave. Then the girl averted her gaze to fully look at Rukia.

Rukia only lifted her eyebrow impassively but she had a good guess about who this girl would be and her suspicion only proven to be correct by Ichigo's whispers.

"S-Senna?"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Oh My God, I'm sorry for this more-than-late update! So very sorry :(**

**And yea, as usual. Thoughts? Advises? Um... rants? Um... rotten tomatoes and eggs? Maybe Rukia was too arrogant?**


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